An F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter on a training sortie in March at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

REUTERS

This month’s U.K. aviation-show extravaganza is shaping up very differently for two new fighter planes at opposite ends of the price spectrum.

For the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program at $399 billion—time is running out to prepare for its planned international debut at two upcoming U.K. airshows starting Friday. The F-35 fleet remains grounded in the U.S. as investigators probe the cause of a June 23 engine fire on one of the planes.

Meanwhile, the Textron Inc. Scorpion jet—which, with a planned sticker price of $20 million and a top speed of 550 miles an hour, counts as cut-rate in the world of fighter jets—already landed at Edinburgh Airport last month after a four-day, six-stop flight from Wichita, Kan., that included visits to Canada, Greenland and Iceland.

Pentagon officials on Monday said a decision has yet to be taken on whether the F-35 will appear as scheduled at the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Farnborough International Air Show. Lockheed Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson is among those slated to accompany the jet for its planned flying display at Farnborough, alongside the Pentagon’s procurement chief, Frank Kendall, and Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the military head of the F-35 program.

Farnborough and the Air Tattoo are big showcases for U.S. contractors seeking to boost international sales to offset a flat Pentagon budget. As many as four F-35Bs—the version of the jet that can take off and land vertically—were due to take part in the two U.K. air shows. The jet already missed a planned flyover in Scotland on July 4 at the naming ceremony for the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier, which sported a full-size replica of the jet.

With a top speed of Mach 1.6—or around 1,200 miles an hour—the $120 million F-35B would have no problem reaching the U.K. if the flight ban is lifted in time.

The Pentagon hasn’t disclosed the route the F-35s would take if they leave for the U.K., though with inflight refueling they can skip the multiple stops of the Scorpion, which on Monday was taking part in video shoots over Scotland.

The Scorpion was developed in less than two years borrowing technology from corporate jets and other off-the-shelf parts, and while no match for a high end F-35 in combat, Textron believes there is a market for 2,000 of the planes. The Boeing Co. F/A-18—which is sparring with the F-35 for some large international fighter contracts—also is slated to appear at Farnborough and the Air Tattoo.

By July 4, a day after the Pentagon grounded the F-35 fleet, the Air Tattoo organizers had downgraded expectations for its planned appearance there Friday to “one or two” planes on the ground. The Farnborough Air Show starts on July 14.

The exact cause of the engine fire on an F-35A model at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida still isn’t known. “Determining the root cause and potential mitigating actions have the highest priority of the F-35 enterprise,” the program office overseeing the jets said in a separate statement. Flying already had been suspended earlier in June after an engine oil leak forced the pilot of another jet to declare an in-flight emergency.

Lockheed Martin said it is working closely with the government and its industrial partners in the program to support the investigation. The F135 engine powering the jet is built by Pratt & Whitney, the engine unit of United Technologies Corp.

The F-35 has been beset by problems that have included failing tires, engine-oil leaks and issues with pilot helmets. Development costs have risen and the military services due to operate the jet have had to delay plans to operate the plane. The U.S. Marine Corps, the first user, wants the jets to be ready by next summer.

Britain is the largest international partner in the F-35′s development program. The country has bought four test planes, though a decision to buy operational jets remains pending. The U.K. is buying the F-35B jump-jet version that the Marine Corps also will operate.

Comments (5 of 27)

I agree with you completely "Pig Face"! I fly the aircraft and it puts anything else to shame. All aircraft have initial issues and if you wonder why the aircraft is behind schedule and over budget it is because of the Obama Administrations HUGE oversight and micromanagement by the "Joint Program Office" and other government watchers. Heck, they won't even pay Lockheed Martin on time for the more than 100 aircraft that it has already produced. Best aircraft out of the four that I have flown (F/A-18; EA-6B and AV-8B were the others!) AWESOME Aircraft, oh and it will be at the airshow!

4:47 am July 9, 2014

Pig Face wrote:

With this many experts making comments I can't understand why LM doesn't just hire you all. Such solid information that you have collected reading yahoo news. My hat is off to you all. A breed of your own... pure genious! Show me one single aircraft that did not encounter problems while it was in its test and evaluation phase. Educate yourselves prior to "opening your mouths" with your opinions. Experts in nothing...

2:10 am July 9, 2014

Westy wrote:

The main reason the F35's international debut is 'Up in the air' is because the F35 is a total dud, a scam, and an abysmal failure. It would be too embarrassing to have the F35 at this air show because it would show the F35 up for what it is - a total failure.

The F35 is going the way of the F22, in the end it will not be sold to anyone, not for security reasons but because it is such a disaster the US will not allow anyone else to have it.

The F35 is going to turn America into a laughing stock it is so bad.

2:05 am July 9, 2014

Louise wrote:

The Lockheed Martin F35 is going down as the biggest disaster in aviation history.

The F35 is NOT stealth which was its only selling point. The International Aviation Authority has already confirmed this, the F35 can be picked up by Russia's radars, you know, the ones the Chinese are also buying!.

The F35 is far more expensive than any of the EU made fighter jets, so why would any European country take on the endless F35 troubles when they can buy a better fighter jet at a cheaper price that is also interoperable with the rest of the EU military technology.

Canada knows that a single engine fighter jet could easily get taken out by birds, they have a history of having this problem with single engine fighter jets. And the Canadians are only too aware of what a dud the F35 is.